Wenger comes to Ozil defence

Tuesday 11 February 2014

Ozil was among the Gunners players singled out by unhappy supporters in the aftermath of the 5-1 defeat against Liverpool on Saturday but Wenger doesn’t feel the Germany international played any poorer than his teammates.

“It's always a disappointment to lose a game but we've been very stable defensively; we'd just been on a 10-game unbeaten run so you can't see one game as a trend,” Wenger said. “It's down to the team to respond in a positive way.

“[Ozil] was like everybody on Saturday - he was not in a good day. There's nobody really to ostracise from that game - we are just conscious we were not good enough.

“He didn't have the best of games, but that can happen. He works very hard to adapt to the physical level of the Premier League and for me he is an exceptional player.

“I wouldn't like to put too much pressure on him because he has been a top-class player until now. He knows when he is not good enough he will get questioned - that is normal.”

Ozil, Arsenal’s club record signing, moved to the Emirates Stadium from Real Madrid late in the summer transfer window. He made 159 appearances for the Spanish side, scoring 27 goals and winning the league title in 2011-12.

Thus far the 25-year-old has made 23 appearances for Arsenal, scoring five goals.

* A valid email is required to submit a comment. Your email will
not be displayed on this or any other website, nor will it be passed to any
3rd parties. For more information please see the terms and conditions.